


To The End

by Annide



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [25]
Category: Limitless (TV)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode s01e22: Finale Part Two!!, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Side Effects
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27009328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annide/pseuds/Annide
Summary: Boyle was never Brian Finch's biggest fan, but it doesn't make it any easier to watch him suffer through side effects.
Relationships: Brian Finch & Spellman Boyle
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667122
Kudos: 7





	To The End

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Bad Things Happen Bingo: Be Careful What You Wish For
> 
> Set during 1x22 Finale: Part Two!!

Brian Finch was an annoying and obnoxious know-it-all. He made no effort to fit in with them here at the FBI and he didn’t seem to have any respect for what they did. He even questioned whether Boyle should’ve shot Casey, telling him there was another way. As if having a death on his hands wasn’t already going to haunt Boyle for a while. Finch wasn’t built to be in this kind of place, he couldn’t handle the pressure. He was as soft as his sweaters and the FBI was no environment for someone like that.

As much as the world needed more people like Finch, optimistic, hopeful and still able to find joy in so many things, like adulthood hadn’t destroyed his inner child, sometimes Boyle wished there could be no more NZT, no more Finch hanging around the office, constantly interrupting him.

He shouldn’t have wished for it. He should’ve just been happy with how things were. Because with not appreciating the good parts of a situation and simply wishing it went away, you either get frustrated that nothing changes, or hurt when you get your wish in a cruel twist of fate.

It was exactly what happened. Rebecca discovered senator Morra had been providing Finch with immunity shots against the side effects of NZT, and when they arrested his middle man, Sands, those shots went away. And Finch had to go too. He couldn’t work for them anymore, not now that they had no way to know when his last shot would wear off, when he’d start having side effects.

Some time passed, NZT flooded the streets and the situation became critical. Finch got his hands on that unregulated NZT and convinced Naz of how much of an asset to the team he was, of how much they needed him. Just like that, he was back in. And as much as he would hate to admit it, Boyle was happy to have him around again. He’d missed his shenanigans, it had felt almost boring without him coming up with crazy ideas that he presented using clay figures or wool maps.

One day, not even a week after his return, Finch came in looking like something was off with him. His red-rimmed eyes were plenty of an indication, but it could’ve been anything. Boyle suspected the man hadn’t been sleeping much since his girlfriend had been taken. However, his shakiness, the way he looked around himself constantly as if afraid of something, and the way he often stopped to stare at an empty space were dead giveaways. Finch was experiencing paranoia and hallucinations. He was having NZT side effects.

“Finch. Finch, look at me.” Boyle put his hand on his shoulder, and Finch automatically leaned into the touch, using it to help keep his balance.

“Hey, Boyle! How are you doing today?”

“How I’m doing? I’m good, Finch. Can’t say the same for you though.”

“I’ll be fine. I just need to find Piper.”

“We can find Piper without you. You should stop. If you keep going, that drug could kill you.”

“Piper is more important. She’s very smart, and she didn’t need NZT to be a kickass scientist. Plus, she knows how to make the immunity shot. We can’t risk letting Sands break her, we can’t risk him getting his hands on it.”

“She might already be dead. Why would you want to risk your own life when it may very well be too late for her?”

“I’m not worth anything, but I can do this. If I can save the world from whatever Sands and his Legion of Whom want to accomplish, then it’ll all be worth it. If this, right now, is what I was meant to do with my life, then I have to see it to the end.”

The sadness in his eyes was almost too much to take. All this time, Boyle had been so focused on how impossibly energetic he was, how enthusiastic he always seemed. He’d never noticed how much he lacked self esteem. He’d never stopped to think about how it must feel to only have gotten this job because he could take a drug with no side effects, and not because of any of his other skills, not because of who he was.

“Finch, listen to me.” Boyle led him to his chair and made him sit. He put both his hands on his shoulders and made sure Finch was looking straight at him. “You are worth a lot. This drug isn’t what defines you. Everyone here cares about you regardless of whether you keep taking it or not. I’m sure you were meant for more than just sacrificing yourself.”

“I don’t have any valuable skills. Not like any of you, not like Piper. I’m not smart enough to help without NZT. Without it, I’m useless.”

“None of that is true. You are smarter and more skilled than you give yourself credit for, Finch. None of us could create visual aids like you do with your craft, and they help. But if you tell anyone I said that, I will kill you myself, understood?”

Finch nodded, a smile pulling the corners of his mouth just the slightest bit upwards.

“You’re still planning on taking that next pill, aren’t you?”

“I can’t just give up now. I couldn’t live with myself.”

There was this calm resolve in his tone despite everything else going on in his mind. Finch wouldn’t change his mind, he would see this to the end no matter what. And Boyle guessed that was something to admire about him.

“Alright, I guess I can relate to that. We’ll just have to make sure we resolve this before it’s too late for you.”

“Seriously?”

“When am I not serious, Finch? Come on, get up, we have work to do.”

Boyle extended his hand towards him. Finch took it and he helped him up. They walked together to the file room, more determined than ever to catch Sands as soon as possible. It was hard for all of them. Boyle could see his concern for Finch’s health reflected in Rebecca, Ike and Mike’s expressions. Everyone at the CJC had gotten a lot more attached to him than they ever thought they would.

Right now, watching Finch put himself through all that pain and suffering, risking his life for what he thought mattered most, putting everyone else before his own wellbeing, Boyle couldn’t remember how he could have ever missed how great and honourable of a man he was. Finch might be a lot to handle sometimes, but the reward was entirely worth it.


End file.
